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How to spot venomous snakes in Florida
Florida has nearly 50 snake species, but only six are venomous, with four found in the Bay Area. FOX 13's Carla Bayron reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - The warmer weather means more outdoor activities, but do you know who also enjoys the warmth? Snakes.
The backstory:
There are venomous snakes in Florida, including some in the Bay Area. With more people moving to the state every year — education is key.
Florida is diverse when it comes to snakes.
"We have close to 50 species of snakes in Florida, and only six are venomous," Steve Johnson, a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida, said.
Take a look at these two snakes here. Can you tell which one is venomous?
Courtesy: Steve Johnson
If you chose the one on the right, you're correct. It's a venomous cottonmouth.
The one on the left is a nonvenomous water snake.
What about these three — which one is venomous?
Courtesy: Steve Johnson
If you chose the one in the middle, you're correct: It's a venomous coral snake.
The other two are nonvenomous.
What they're saying:
"Yellow, red: Stop. So, if yellow and red bands touch — in Florida and in the U.S. -- that's a coral snake," Johnson said.
Coral snakes and the pit vipers, eastern diamondbacks, pigmy rattlesnakes and cottonmouth or water moccasins are all in the Bay Area, and they share common characteristics, though, you can't rely on their head shape alone.
Courtesy: Steve Johnson
"A snake can expand its mouth when it swallows a large food item so that enables it to flare out its jaw and flatten out their head, and they're just putting on a bluff to look more intimidating," Johnson said. "But when they do that, the head is triangular, so people think that's a venomous snake, so that's not a good feature. The heavy, thick body and thick, blocky head, and rough, keeled appearance -- that's what you're looking for."
Big picture view:
As more people move to Florida and snakes' natural habitats are destroyed, the chances of seeing the reptiles increase during the spring and summer as they venture out to feed and mate.
Though the chances of getting bitten are relatively small.
By the numbers:
According to Johnson, the Florida Poison Control Center only has about 300 confirmed bites that they help with venomous snakes in Florida each year.
So, Johnson says people should adopt a "live and let live" attitude as snakes are also important to our natural ecosystem. They're food for other animals and they eat rodents.
"They're just really, really interesting animals," Johnson said. "They're not to be feared. I think they're meant to be appreciated."
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from an interview with a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the University of Florida.